In form of filed hospitals, constant aid via land and air, Jordan remains Palestinians' number one supporter

AMMAN — Since the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza, the Jordan Armed Forces–Arab Army (JAF), under Royal directives, has used every means available to support the resilience of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and alleviate their large-scale suffering. 

These efforts have translated into comprehensive humanitarian, relief and medical aid that reached various sectors and benefited countless Palestinians, significantly alleviating the humanitarian suffering caused by the war.

This reflects Jordan's unwavering stance in supporting the Palestinian people and their cause.

At the height of the war, the JAF deployed a military field hospital to Khan Younis in southern Gaza, marking the first such facility to be sent to the besieged and war-torn Strip to reinforce the ailing healthcare system.

This initiative was followed by the reinforcement of the northern Gaza field hospital, which Jordan set up in Gaza in 2009, with specialised medical personnel and the establishment of a third military field hospital in Nablus to serve Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Jordanian field hospitals have treated 521,066 patients since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to JAF statement.  Medical teams conducted over 21,147 surgeries, including numerous complex operations performed for the first time in Gaza.

They also treated 55,722 war casualties, reflecting Jordan's commitment to deploying highly qualified medical personnel to provide advanced healthcare services to the injured.

To ensure the continuous supply of urgent medical materials to Gaza, His Majesty King Abdullah directed JAF to conduct airdrop operations using Royal Jordanian Air Force aircraft.

During a meeting with notables from the southern governorate of Maan in March 2024, the King said that the idea to carry out aid airdrops into Gaza came to his mind when he flew over the Strip on the way back to Amman from Germany.

The King said at the time that meetings were held with military attaches of Arab, Islamic and Western countries, where they were asked to use the spare parachutes their countries have for airdrop of aid into Gaza. 

These missions delivered significant quantities of medical, humanitarian and relief supplies, marking one of the largest logistical support operations in modern military history.

The scale of the airdrops was expanded to cover both northern and southern Gaza, with the participation of King Abdullah, HRH Crown Prince Hussein, and HRH Princess Salma.

On February 28, His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander JAF participated in the airdrop operations conducted by Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) aircraft to deliver food and relief aid to Gaza.

These efforts underline the Hashemite commitment to the Palestinian cause, prioritising it by personally contributing to the delivery of aid to affected areas and standing with the Palestinian people in these challenging times.

Jordanian aircraft have carried out 125 airdrops to Gaza, with an additional 266 coordinated with allied nations to meet humanitarian and medical needs.

His Majesty ordered the dispatch of a squadron of military aircraft loaded with essential relief, medical and pharmaceutical supplies for the people of Gaza.

This unprecedented operation was part of the "humanitarian bridge" flights to the Strip, during which eight military helicopters from Jordan transported over seven tonnes of humanitarian aid, including food, medicines, health supplies, and items for children.

The aid was handed over to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Gaza for distribution within the Strip.

Only Jordanians do it

Videos of Gazans receiving with applaud Jordanian assistance airdropped by RJAF C-130s into their besieged strip have gone viral on social media.

But that video of a Palestinian boy looking over the smoky skies of Gaza when military planes were dropping aid into the strip remains the most famous one.

In that video, the Palestinian boy was videotaping planes dropping with parachutes aid packages into Gaza and telling a woman next to him, “Look at the Jordanian planes.” Asked by the woman, who was unseen in the video, “How do you know they are Jordanians?,” he said, “Only Jordanians do it. May God bless them?”

In addition to air support, Jordan has established a humanitarian air bridge from Marka Military Airport to El Arish Airport in Egypt to facilitate the delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Fifty-three planes have transported 8.866 million tonnes of aid to date under the initiative, which ensured the transportation of large quantities of medical supplies, food and other essential items in cooperation with humanitarian and international organisations to meet urgent needs amid the dire conditions in Gaza.

JAF, in cooperation with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) and several international organisations, sent 140 land convoys comprising 5,063 trucks.

Under Royal directives, the JAF launched the "Restoring Hope" initiative on September 16, 2024, to provide prosthetic limbs to amputees in Gaza.

Two mobile clinics equipped with the necessary tools and staffed by a specialised medical team from the National Centre for Rehabilitation of Amputation Injuries were sent to Gaza.

These clinics began operating and received cases for prosthetic fitting, resulting in the installation of 267 upper and lower limbs.

As part of Royal initiatives, the JAF embarked on preparing the infrastructure for a specialised military field hospital for gynaecology and obstetrics.

This hospital, the first of its kind globally, is equipped with advanced facilities and staffed predominantly by female medical personnel.

The facility will be managed by 82 medical, nursing, technical and administrative personnel, including 55 women from the Royal Medical Services.

It will feature two delivery rooms, an operating room, 30 patient beds, a pharmacy, a laboratory, and a blood bank to enhance maternal and neonatal healthcare amidst the ongoing crisis.

The JAF also supplied the Jordanian field hospital in southern Gaza with 2,000 blood units of various types, in collaboration with the Health Ministry.

This effort is part of the extensive and ongoing support for the people of Gaza to meet the growing demand for blood units due to the increasing number of surgeries for war victims.